I caught the sneak preview of An Inconvenient Truth in Berkeley on Tuesday night a day before it opened. Given my true anal nature, I arrived over an hour early and was first in line. Maybe I’m a freak, but many people were turned away when they ran out of seats.

Al Gore did a great job in the film articulating the problem of climate change in a clear and articulate manner. Being enrolled in the Presidio School of Managements environmental MBA program, this was not new information for me, but the manner in which it was delivered was.

The charts, graphs, photos, and cartoons along with Al Gore’s surprising comfort and humor all served his purpose of educating people on the problem. I don’t think the film by itself will make people change their habits, as it takes more than a film to get people to change. But it will play a supporting role in helping people move one step further along the path.

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I was just reading on Treehugger how Fox News is gearing up the machine to debunk the new Al Gore documentary on Climate Change. On one side, it’s good the film is getting attention, but it’s interesting and predictable that they are shifting the discussion away from climate change to whether the film will put Al Gore in the White House – nice slight of hand to shift attention away from the more critical issue. I’m heading over to Berkeley tonight to catch a sneak preview of the film, more later.

Today I launched a redisgn of my web site. I decided to switch over to Word Press blogging software to make the maintanence of the site and posting easier. This will allow me to keep the site more up to date. Special thanks go to Blue Host for providing Word Press as part of their hosting package, and to Patricia Muller who authored the Connections theme for Word Press. I’ve already made many cosmetic and functional changes, but it’s been a great theme to build from.

I also want to thank the author of the many plug-ins that I’m using throughout the site – there are too many to mention, but your work has made mine much easier. Thank you.

I went to the movies last night and saw the trailer for the upcoming film, An Inconvenient Truth that’s coming out on May 24^th. The film is documentary featuring Al Gore, and has been adapted from his lectures on global warming.

The film promises to be a clear, comprehensive, and thoughtful articulation of the problem humanity is now facing in global warming. Bringing a clear understanding of this issue to everyone is something that I’m passionate about.

I want to ask all of you to see the film on opening weekend (May 24^th -28^th) to help create a buzz around the issue. Bring your friends and family – put the word out – this is a film everyone must see.

I’ve made a pledge to see the film on opening weekend, and want to ask you to do the same by going to www.climatecrisis.net. There you can also watch the trailer and get more background on global warming.

I wrote an op-ed that was featured in the sustainable MBA column on the Greenbiz.com website. The column discusses how environmental activists often respond negatively to company’s first sustainable efforts as green washing and suggest alternative approaches that might be more productive. Read the column here.

Mt. Rainier, Mt. St Helens, Crater Lake, Burning Man 2004, San Francisco, Canyonlands National Park

No matter how much I try to hold onto the present it always seems to slip off into the future. It’s hard to imagine that it’s been three months since my last update. I suppose when I decided to take a break from working on my book all other writing got left behind as well. Even my journal has been void of thoughts lately. Lots of things have happened in these past three months – let me catch you up.

I left Canada and headed south back into the continental United States. My first stop of note was Mt. Rainier National Park and its snow capped peak rising majestically out of the misty forests of the Pacific Northwest. This was my first visit to Rainier and when I came around a bend in the road and saw the mountain for the first time I was awe struck. I pulled over and sat awhile picking over its rocky crags and flowing glaciers with my eyes and allowing its form to settle into my mind like the face of a new friend. With the dog banned from the trails, I explored as much as I could from the road; the visit was well worth it but it only whetted my appetite for more. (more…)

Fairbanks, Dalton Highway, Dease Lake, Laird Hot Springs, Jasper, and Banff.

Leaving Denali I headed north to the city of Fairbanks. An eclectic town that feels young thanks to the proximity of the University of Alaska. I hung out here for a few days preparing for my trek up north. I went to a great folk music festival that went all day at a local park and featured many talented local musicians. Best of all, dogs were welcome and Coho made lots of doggie friends. It was a nice high for him, contrasted with the low of being neutered two days later. He came through it fine, and doesn’t seem to have any adverse effects.

From Fairbanks I journeyed up the Dalton Highway. Known simply as the ‘haul road’, it’s a winding strip of dirt and rock that leads 400 miles into the northern oblivion. It parallels the Alaskan Pipeline that runs south from the northern oil fields on the Arctic Ocean and the town of Deadhorse. One of the most beautiful stretches of roadway I have ever traveled. Massive granite mountains squat on the northern tundra, trees quickly give way to shrubs, and then the shrubs to moss and lichen. I hit the arctic circle and kept going, relentlessly rolling northward through towns with names like Wiseman and Coldfoot, lonely outposts carved out of the arctic landscape. I made it to Galbraith Lake, about 130 miles from Deadhorse. At this northern latitude on the eve of the summer solstice, the sun never sets. It was a profoundly beautiful spot, peaceful and serene; it was in this isolated location that I found the end of my book. Conventional wisdom says that after having traveled well over 5,000 miles from California that I would have pushed the final few to Deadhorse, but keeping true to my character, I bucked the typical and turned south instead making it back to Fairbanks with only one flat tire. (more…)

Valdez, Seward, Homer, Anchorage, Denali State Park and Coho

Let’s see, where did I last leave off? Oh, yes the belly of the ferry. The ferry spit me out in Haines where I stayed one night and not finding anything that sparked my interest I left and drove to Valdez. A great town set at the terminus of the Alaskan Pipeline and now infamous as the site of the worst oil spill in US history. Visible signs of the spill are mostly gone unless you dig down a few inches, but the long-term effects of the spill are still taking a toll on the local population of sea creatures. The town is ringed by towering peaks and sits on the north side of a protected bay with a narrow entrance. It’s hard not feel overcome with awe at the natural beauty of this spot. (more…)

Juneau, Sitka, and the Wilderness

On April 23^rd I packed my backpack, left the Van in Skagway, and jumped an overnight ferry heading south. I camped out on the floor in my sleeping bag, along with a bunch of other people that didn’t want to spring for a berth, we fell asleep and woke up in Juneau – the Capital of Alaska. It was 5AM and I found someone to share a cab downtown. I arrived at the Alaskan Hotel a classic two hundred year old building with eclectic rooms that make you feel like you stepped back in time to the gold rush days. Showing up at this early hour, I surprised the night manager along with the hookers he was hanging out with in the lobby. He practically fell over himself trying to get me a room and shuffle me upstairs.

Juneau is a beautiful town nestled between the water and snow-capped peaks. I met up with two locals Chris and Dru at a bar one night and we got to talking and they offered to take me out the next day and show me around. We checked out the Mendenhall Glacier an impressive site within spitting distance of Juneau. It has a one-and-a-half mile face that flows twelve miles into a lake where pieced of itself calve into the chilly waters. We drove north to the “end-of-the-road”, where the road, well, ends – Juneau being completely landlocked and all. We also visited the Shrine of St. Terese, a very cool Catholic chapel that sits on a small island connected to land by a small causeway. Large spruce trees cover the island and shelter the natural stone chapel that looks like it grew out of the ground by divine force rather then built by the hands of man. A spiritually harmonic place that leaves an indelible impression long after you’ve left its solitudenous shores. It was great to get the local take on things and hang out with a couple of super cool guys – Alaskans rock. (more…)

Driving the backwoods of Canada, Skagway, and Woody Harrelson

I crossed the border into Canada on April 13^th, the border officials searched my van for something incriminating, but came up empty; guess I looked like I was up to no good. I pointed the van north from the border and began the long trek through Canada to reach Alaska. It’s an interesting time of year to be in the Great White North. On the downside, most tourist sites and museums have not yet opened for the spring season. Parks, campgrounds and hiking trails are packed-in with deep snow, so unless you have a pair of snowshoes, and I don’t, there isn’t much to do.

On the plus side, the country is incredibly beautiful and I had the place pretty much to myself. Some favorite sights along the way included winding roads through pine-covered valleys, which sit in the shadows of snow-capped granite peaks. Watching Bald Eagles soar over frozen lakes, while I stood by the roadside lost in the immense silence of the place with no other cars within a hundred miles. Roads can be odd places when there isn’t any other traffic on them. They feel forgotten, and I could almost imagine that the world I knew so well has disappeared and I was journeying on some long lost track lost in time. (more…)